The Basic 9 is a great knife. Definitely one of my favorites!
You said you wanted to use it for: light chopping (2" maple saplings), clearing branches (PITA cedar), and general utility / camp knife.
It can handle light (and VERY, VERY HEAVY) chopping with absolutely no problems. It chops like crazy. It also clears branches, bush and light vegetation with no problems. Ummm, as for general utility or camp knife... not really. In my opinion it is WAY too big to use for general utility. The whole idea of a "utility" knife is to carry it a lot, so you will have it on you when you need it. The Basic 9 is a huge "leg slapper" that you will NOT carry all the time. Don't get me wrong, it would come in handy to do lots of things around a camp site, but it would be of little use for food prep - and that's really the bulk of my camp chores.
You might consider using the Basic 9 as a big beater of a knife and getting something smaller as a camp/utility. I'd suggest something with a blade length of less than 5". I think as far as Busses go, the Badger III would make an excellent camp knife.
I do think the Steel Heart would have covered all the bases that the Basic 9 would, but it is too big for a utility knife as well. The real optimal solution would be a big knife (your new Basic 9) and a smaller one to cover everything else (I think that Badger of yours with the new micarta would work GREAT!).
I have used my Busse Basics and Combat Grades hard, and I can tell you that from my personal experience, there does not seem to be any performance difference at all between INFI and M-INFI. They both hold an edge extremely long, are exceptionally tough, and easy to sharpen.
I think you could replace the rubber handle with micarta, but I would use it first and see what you think. I was going to do that with mine - then I used it! I compared it to my Steel Heart and found that the rubber handle on the Basics is FAR less abrasive during long periods of use than the micarta handle of the Combat Grades. Another bonus is that it is the only rubber handle that I know of that is covered by a lifetime warranty. The Basic handles are really very nice. They also don't shift around or come off like some other rubber handles out there (cold steel).
Hope I've been of some help... If you use your Basic 9, you will grow to like it a lot!
